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Narrative of the western theatre in the American Civil War, 1880s
18_Narrative Page 18
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Gen Hurlbert & Stewart's brigade on the left had been forced back to the Purdy road. Leaving the line of battle almost in the shape of a bow Prentiss & W.H.G Wallis holding the left center that protruded farther to the front than the rest of the line. Gen Johnston {newspaper clipping} General Johnston was deeply impressed with the responsibilities of his position. Up to this time everything had gone according to his expectations, and it only remained for him to drive back the Union left, while holding the right; to cut off the line of retreat to the Tennessee River, and throw the army back upon the swamps of Owl Creek, where he believed it would be obliged to surrender. Meanwhile the battle raged with unceasing fury. The Union left, hammered back slowly, repelled charge after charge made at the same point, until the line, weakened by loss in killed and wounded, receded, stubbornly contesting every foot of ground. The Confederates were unsparing in the sacrifice of their men. Their best brigades were hurled against the Union lines over ground thickly strewn with their dead and wounded. All along the front lay the latter writhing in mortal agony. Slight wounds were unnoticed on either side; only the loss of a leg, or an arm, or a gaping wound in the body, that stretched them prone upon the blood-stained earth, stayed their hands from further fighting. "The Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast." A furious charge, urged on by a wild yell and the flashing of swords in the bright sunlight, would sweep like a tornado from its cover in the woods, up a slope or across a field, threatening destruction to everything in its course. Nearer and nearer they come. Many of their arms useless at long range, are deadly at thirty paces. Before they reach that point a belching fire blazes from the line in their front, and a shower of grape-shot fills the air. Repeatedly checked and often repulsed and driven back by counter-charges, until they could no longer be led into action, fresh brigades were brought forward; and so the work of death progressed and the afternoon wore away. The Stars & Strips emblem of our national unity hovered like a
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Gen Hurlbert & Stewart's brigade on the left had been forced back to the Purdy road. Leaving the line of battle almost in the shape of a bow Prentiss & W.H.G Wallis holding the left center that protruded farther to the front than the rest of the line. Gen Johnston {newspaper clipping} General Johnston was deeply impressed with the responsibilities of his position. Up to this time everything had gone according to his expectations, and it only remained for him to drive back the Union left, while holding the right; to cut off the line of retreat to the Tennessee River, and throw the army back upon the swamps of Owl Creek, where he believed it would be obliged to surrender. Meanwhile the battle raged with unceasing fury. The Union left, hammered back slowly, repelled charge after charge made at the same point, until the line, weakened by loss in killed and wounded, receded, stubbornly contesting every foot of ground. The Confederates were unsparing in the sacrifice of their men. Their best brigades were hurled against the Union lines over ground thickly strewn with their dead and wounded. All along the front lay the latter writhing in mortal agony. Slight wounds were unnoticed on either side; only the loss of a leg, or an arm, or a gaping wound in the body, that stretched them prone upon the blood-stained earth, stayed their hands from further fighting. "The Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast." A furious charge, urged on by a wild yell and the flashing of swords in the bright sunlight, would sweep like a tornado from its cover in the woods, up a slope or across a field, threatening destruction to everything in its course. Nearer and nearer they come. Many of their arms useless at long range, are deadly at thirty paces. Before they reach that point a belching fire blazes from the line in their front, and a shower of grape-shot fills the air. Repeatedly checked and often repulsed and driven back by counter-charges, until they could no longer be led into action, fresh brigades were brought forward; and so the work of death progressed and the afternoon wore away. The Stars & Strips emblem of our national unity hovered like a
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